North Carolina Grove

Through the North Carolina Grove we share urban forestry educational resources, upcoming events and all of your photos, videos, discussions and questions. You can also create your own profile, photo “groves” of trees you have planted to commemorate special events, and communicate with your fellow tree enthusiasts here in North Carolina and across the country.

About Us

The mission of the North Carolina Forest Service is to develop, protect, and manage the multiple resources of North Carolina's forests through professional stewardship, enhancing the quality of life for our citizens. http://ncforestservice.gov

The North Carolina Urban Forest Council provides leadership to those who sustain trees where we
live, work and play. www.NCUFC.org.

Comments

Last year, the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council (Council) polled attendees at the Partners in Community Forestry Conference in Pittsburgh and learned that you'd like to have more input into Council activities. We listened to your feedback and have worked diligently this year to gather additional input from our Urban and Community Forestry (UCF) constituencies throughout the country. As we prepare to finalize the 2016 UCF Challenge Cost Share Grant Program, please take the time to complete this brief survey and help inform the categories for our next grant cycle! https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NUCFACpoll2014

Please feel free to forward this link to anyone that you think might be interested in participating.

A recent article (http://urbanful.org/2014/09/18/could-we-light-our-streets-with-glow...) highlights a potential way to brighten our city streets. Perhaps, as the person who alerted me to this article said, this could be used in place of stringing up lights in the trees for the holiday season. Maybe. As the article points out there are other things, such as not annoying the neighbors, to consider before employing this idea.

Most likely you are aware of the human health benefits that trees provide. You also probably are aware of the work that Kathleen Wolf has done to quantify those benefits. On her Web site, http://www.naturewithin.info/new.html, she posts the latest presentations and publications about tree benefits. Check it out, there might be some information you could use in one of your upcoming presentations.

For the 95,000 or so people in and around Bellingham, Washington, the water bill they pay every other month includes a charge called the “watershed acquisition fee.” It’s currently $24.81 per bill, and the city uses this money to strategically purchase land to protect Lake Whatcom and its watershed—the source of the city’s water supply. Since the project’s inception in 2002, the city has used taxpayer dollars to purchase roughly 1,700 acres, mostly from private property owners. If need be, city crews and volunteers clean up the parcels, then replant native forests, which in turn reduce pollution.

As tree people, we are all aware that there are many tree myths out there... Should I put Listerine on a pruning cut? Will copper nails kill a tree? Does beating an apple tree with a broom lead to more apples? Well, the good news is that Linda Chalker-Scott of Washington State University has captured and compiled some of these myths. The main website is available here. For specific information on tree myths click here.

We know that properly pruned and maintained trees can withstand weather events with less breakage and damage. But the luxury of the time and attention it takes to correctly prune is generally not a factor in utility pruning. Researchers in CT are looking at how trees are exposed to wind along utility corridors and how pruning and removal could be better applied.

Don't forget to register for the Urban Forestry Conference in Raleigh Aug 12-15. A pre-conference tour, 2 days of educational sessions and trade show and a field day at the J.C Raulston Arboretum - all or pick and choose your days.

The EPAs approval of a new insecticide, cyantraniliprole, has resulted in a lawsuit and broad concern by some groups. The insecticide is in a class of chemicals harmful to non-target insects (highly toxic to bees) and is also toxic to mammals, fish, and plants along with its targeted invertebrates. This EPA approval did not include consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife or National Marine Fisheries.

This has a number of groups concerned with what they consider to be insufficient study and information on the effects of the chemical and the extent of approved uses: fruits and vegetables, oilseeds, greenhouse ornamentals and outdoor ornamentals. It can be applied as a seed treatment, foliar spray or as a soil drench on tree fruit, tree nut and bushberry crops, and greenhouse and outdoor ornamentals.

Produced by Syngenta, various product formulation names may include: Cyazypyr, Cyantraniliprole, Verimark, Benevia, Lumiderm, Exirel, Minecto Duo, Mainspring and Fortenza. Some formulations include a neonicotinoid checmical which is already identified as contributing to bee colony collapse.

Would you like to learn more about urban forestry? The eLearn website offers free learning modules for urban forestry beginners and for people who work in and around urban landscapes. The modules are free and are divided into short chapters. Take a look at: eLearn Urban Forestry

Urban Forestry affects and is affected by many other management issues facing communities. Often the issues are addressed singly or within departmental limits. But the management decisions faced by communities are often intertwined and effective planning needs to take them into account.

Planning in the Face of Change looks at five issues shared by nearly every community. The 1-hour presentations can only touch on the…